But there are more sinister things you can do with a mommet. Things no good arcanist was ever supposed to consider. Things with pins and knives that would leave a man bleeding even though he was miles away. True malfeasance.
So they find an extraordinary creature that's nearly extinct and this asshole's first impulse is to kill it? With forbidden dark magic, no less. Maybe he's the fucking antagonist in this story and the Chandrian are the good guys.